10 February

Why are the words of God so precious? Jesus said: ‘People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’ (Matthew 4:4). The ‘word’ is in the present tense, and means ‘is continually coming out of the mouth of God’; it is like a stream pouring forth and, like the stream of a fountain, it is never static. God is continually communicating with his people. He does so, primarily, through the life-changing words of the Bible.

Reading the Bible and praying are very closely associated. Don’t simply read the Bible for information, but to hear God speaking to you. The natural response to that is prayer. It is a two-way process.

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Psalm 19:7-14May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Judas appears to be expressing his love for Jesus with a kiss, when actually he is betraying him: ‘The betrayer... embraced him and kissed him with [pretended] warmth and devotion’ (vv.48–49, AMP). It was the ultimate two-faced act.

But loyalty means also supporting people when they are down. It is much harder to know what to say and the temptation is to stay away and, in effect, abandon them.

He exercised extraordinary restraint. He did not answer back (v.63), but he allowed himself to be attacked physically (v.67), and he chose not to win the argument but rather to win the war